Peritelus sphaeroides Germar

Pierotti, Helio, Bellò, Cesare & Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A., 2010, 2376, Zootaxa 2376, pp. 1-96 : 12-13

Peritelus sphaeroides Germar

( Figs. 8a, 10a, 11a, 12a, 48b)

Peritelus sphaeroides Germar, 1824: 408 ; Iglesias Iglesias, 1922: 6; Léon-Hilaire, 1924: 65; Pierotti & Bellò, 1998: 104; Alonso-Zarazaga, 2002: 24.

Peritelus (Peritelus) sphaeroides Germar : Lona, 1937: 260.

Peritelus griseus (Olivier) : Boheman in Schoenherr, 1834: 512, sensu Seidlitz, 1866: 303.

Peritelus griseus var. nigripes Rey, 1894: 139 (unavailable).

Peritelus griseus var. laetus Rey, 1894: 139 (unavailable).

Peritelus tenietensis Pic, 1896: 113 ; Hustache, 1935: 210 (synonymy).

Diagnosis. Species of median to large size (4.5–8.2 mm), distinguished by robust and weakly elongate body outline, with the widest point across the humeral calli, and by the slender antennal funicle with its desmomere 7 distinctly wider than 6.

Redescription. Body outline robust. Dorsal vestiture composed of scales and setae, scales not or hardly imbricate on head and pronotum, strongly so on elytra, elongate on head and usually on basal fourth of elytra, rounded elsewhere, paler or darker ochreous, greyish, greenish or turquoise, forming two darker bands on sides of pronotal disc, irregular and usually ill-delimited patches on elytral dorsum and often one or rarely two V-shaped dark fasciae on declivity; scales paler on sides of head and pronotum and usually of elytra; setae elongate, not or hardly widened apicad, erect along upper eye margin, reclinate or appressed elsewhere. Head with straight sides in dorsal view, convergent from genae to base of pterygia, rostrum subquadrate to scarcely longer than wide, epistome widely notched, epistomal keel strong; pterygia very prominent; prorostrum widening apicad and with a more or less strong median keel, dorsum of metarostrum with sides straight, converging basad, with a wide median sulcus usually meeting the frontal fovea; appendix of scrobe (sensu Solari, 1955) short; frontal sulcus obsolete; eyes normal, elongate, weakly convex, not projecting beyond the genae; frons narrow, a little depressed in comparison with dorsal margin of eyes, with a median fovea. Antennae with scape moderately slender, not or scarcely incrassate in the first two thirds, funicle slender, two first desmomeres elongate, subequal, desmomere 3 a little longer than wide, 4 and 5 moniliform, 6 and 7 transverse, the latter larger than 6; club usually elongate, with first segment widely cup-like. Pronotum transverse, sides rounded, a little wider at base than at apex, densely punctured. Elytra widest at humeral calli, suboval in male, points of striae evident despite vestiture and flat interstriae. Legs with tibiae widened at apex, fore tibiae less so in males, hind ones with strong teeth on internal margin in males, a little prominent outwards at apex. Aedeagus in lateral view uniformly curved, in dorsal view strongly tricuspidate at apex ( Fig. 12a); endophallic structures as in Fig. 8a. Hemisternites as in Fig. 10a; spiculum ventrale as in Fig. 11a; spermatheca as in Fig. 48b.

Distribution. Probably western Europe ( Dieckmann, 1980), known from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, north-western Italy and France; also recorded from eastern Europe and Siberia but apparently based on misidentifications ( Dieckmann, 1980), presence in Algeria (based on a single female described under the name P.tenietensis ) requiring confirmation; introduced to North America (type locality: “ Germania meridionalis, Hungaria” = southern Germany, Hungary). Spanish literature records: Catalonia: mountains of the province of Barcelona (Cuní y Martorell & Martorell y Peña, 1872); Besós ( Iglesias Iglesias, 1922); Valle de Arán, Lés ( Léon-Hilaire, 1924).

Material examined. Spain: Madrid: provincia de Madrid, leg. Lauffer ( MMA) (doubtful locality since Lauffer could have mislabelled his German specimens); Murcia: “Cartagena, J. Cáceres leg.” (several specimens in MBA and MMA but record requiring confirmation); also represented in Andorra ( MAN) .

Biology. At least in Germany, the eggs are laid on the soil between the beginning of April and the end of May, first-instar larvae hatch after 5–6 days and start eating rootlets of diverse plants, in some cases seriously damaging crops, particularly vineyards and fruit trees; mature larvae pupate in the soil and the adults appear from the beginning of June to the end of August, being active up to November. They eat leaves and buds and overwinter ( Dieckmann, 1980). The species has been recorded on Pinaceae (Pinus) , Salicaceae ( Salix , Populus ), Betulaceae ( Betula , Corylus ), Fagaceae (Quercus) , Ulmaceae (Ulmus) , Moraceae (Morus) , Polygonaceae (Rumex) , Rosaceae ( Rosa , Pyrus , Malus , Mespilus , Crataegus ), Fabaceae ( Cytisus , Genista , Ulex ), Buxaceae (Buxus) , Vitaceae (Vitis) , Cistaceae (Cistus) , Ericaceae (Erica) and Oleaceae (Syringa) .

Genus Meira Jacquelin du Val

Meira Jacquelin du Val, 1853: 711 ; Solari, 1955: 40; Pierotti & Bellò, 1998: 86; Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999: 172 (date erroneously given as 1852).

Peritelus (Meira) : Seidlitz, 1868b: 27, 28; Stierlin, 1883: 585, 598; Lona, 1937: 265.

Type species: Meira crassicornis Jacquelin du Val, 1853 , by monotypy.

For description see Pierotti & Bellò (1998). A genus with a western-Mediterranean distribution, centred mainly in the north ( Fig. 61); newly recorded for Spain (its range hitherto considered not to extend across the Pyrenees in the west ( Dajoz, 1965; Pierotti & Bellò, 1998)). Currently includes 7 species.